Karen Vincent is the owner of Karen Vincent Solutions, a Certified Coach, a Licensed Therapist, and Host of the Women’s Success Coach Podcast.
Karen, a woman of resilience and determination, embarked on a journey of self-discovery after her college years. Uncertain of her path, she found herself working with at-risk youth, a role that unexpectedly ignited her passion. Determined to make a difference, Karen pursued a master’s degree and delved into various clinical settings, dedicating her time to helping adults and overseeing programs for vulnerable youth.
However, Karen’s insatiable thirst for personal growth urged her to venture into uncharted territory. After completing a coach certification program, she initially envisioned starting her own coaching business. While initially considering starting her own coaching business, she discovered an unexpected passion for leading teams.
Through her podcast, the Women’s Success Coach, Karen shares her wisdom and inspires women to unlock their true potential.
Today, her business, Karen Vincent Solutions, thrives as a haven of empowerment and growth. With a primary focus on coaching, Karen distinguishes it from therapy by emphasizing the importance of looking forward rather than dwelling on the past. She serves as a beacon of inspiration for those seeking fulfillment and success on their own unique paths.
Routine | Create Time For Yourself
Every morning, Karen carves out a precious sanctuary of time just for herself. She finds solace and clarity, allowing her mind to align and her thoughts to flourish. During this tranquil period, she nurtures a mindset of steadfast encouragement, consciously channeling away any negative energy that tries to seep into her day. Karen fortifies her spirit through her empowering morning routine, which consists of the following:
- Waking up early in the morning
- Meditating
- Drinking a bottle of water
- Reflecting on things she is grateful for from the last 24 hours
- Writing in a journal
- Having visualization
Karen’s morning routine is a harmonious blend of self-care that paves the way for her day brimming with limitless possibilities.
Success
In Karen’s captivating perspective, success is a vibrant tapestry woven with threads of happiness and fulfillment. She envisions success as an ever-evolving journey unique to each individual. Karen recognizes that success extends far beyond professional achievements; it encompasses the richness of meaningful connections and nourishing relationships. These precious bonds bring her immense joy and serve as catalysts for her personal growth. Karen’s expertise, compassion, and personalized programs continue to transform women’s lives, igniting a spark within them to shatter the chains of limitation and embrace a life of boundless possibilities.
Book Recommendations:
The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks
Connect With Karen Vincent
Website: http://www.KarenVincentSolutions.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bestbossladylife/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenVincentSolutions/
Transcript
Hannah Mitrea 0:04
Hello, everyone, this is Hannah, your host, and you are listening to the Success is Routine Podcast. Our show is on a mission to talk to leaders in life and business that have achieved success. And to learn what their routine is, if you’re ready to create your routine to success, you’re in the right place. Now, let’s get started. Welcome back everybody to Success is Routine. I’m so excited to have Karen Vincent here with me. Karen is the owner of Karen Vincent solutions, a certified coach, licensed therapist, and the host of the Woman Success Coach Podcast. And so welcome to the show. Karen.
Karen Vincent 0:41
Thanks so much. I’m so excited to be here. I love the podcast. And it’s just I find inspiration in hearing about other people’s routines and what works. And I feel like if somebody has a good idea, and I can borrow it, I’m
Hannah Mitrea 0:52
all for it. So,
Karen Vincent 0:52
so glad you’re doing this. Yeah, that’s
Hannah Mitrea 0:55
exactly what the podcast is really about is for us to hear all these different kinds of routines that help lead to success, and taking the piece that works for you. And just like, you know, trying it out, well, that work for me is what Karen’s doing, gonna be the thing that makes me grow is what Joe did be the thing, you know. And so I was kind of looking at all that. And I just love hearing those stories. And that’s why I started the podcast, because I was like, I can go have these stories. Or everybody can listen to these stories. And so I’m really excited to hear your story and hear your success. But before we jump into the routine, tell me a little bit about you and your story. So our listeners can hear it.
Karen Vincent 1:31
Yeah, so I, as you mentioned, I’m a licensed therapist, and I’m a certified coach. And I was a therapist first. And you know, coming out of college wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do, and kind of just stumbled into working with at risk youth and then decided like to go get my master’s degree. And so I worked in various clinical settings for a very long time, adults at risk youth running programs, overseeing programs. And then about 14 years ago, which is crazy. I did a coach certification program. And so I originally did that thinking, you know, maybe I’ll start a coaching business, but I was also leading teams. So I was using the coaching and kind of team leadership stuff. And I love both. But my Karen Vincent solutions business is really focused around coaching and kind of, you know, the biggest differences with therapy, you tend to look back a little bit more and kind of resolve some things from the past. And then kind of how do we get things better today and moving forward? And coaching? We’re just kind of starting at the, how do we get things better today moving forward. So I love both. And that’s kind of where I am today. As you mentioned, I have a podcast, the women’s Success Coach podcast, and right now I’m just doing one on one coaching. But my hope is not my hope. My goal is that probably in the next two months, I will launch a course that’s actually going to be focused on coaching around anxiety and some stress, and then some mindset, and I I still do one on one coaching as well. So
Hannah Mitrea 3:04
yeah, and it’s so interesting, the coaching of therapy, you know, I’ve always thought of it a very similar way where therapy was like, you know, dealing with your past, and coaching is moving on to your future. separating those and I know even like, with people I’ve known that’s gone through therapy, I’m like, I think it’s time to now go into coaching and like, you know, learning that sites, I love that you kind of do both sides of that, too. And I know you’re moving towards the coaching side. And you know, we talked a little bit earlier as we got on here, kind of creating that line habit, like even separate them. So it’s really interesting that you’ve done that, to kind of do those two different things that are both super important. But when like two, did you have a routine and a therapy side that you’re able to translate into the coaching side? Or was there a routine to those things? Or did you always have like a routine in your life even before maybe like a more structured routine or something that you’ve created his?
Karen Vincent 3:57
Yeah, so my schedule has definitely changed over time. But in terms of routines, when I was I was a certified coach, but I was running a program that was delivering both actually both. The majority was clinical services, but some coaching services as well. And it was busy, it was a startup, there was a lot going on, you kind of wore whatever hat needed to be worn on any given day. And we got this new contract and the short version, it was a mess. It was underpriced. We had to change our entire structure of our operations. It was tons of policies and procedures that we had to create to support this particular contract. And I was in charge of executing all of it and keeping people the team happy and adjusting schedules. And so every day I was like waking up and literally felt like I could start working at 4am and go to bed at midnight and still like feel like there’s way too much to do. So I was kind of in this mindset of like overwhelm And it was like becoming like chronic. And it was so interesting. It’s just interesting how like, life kind of works out sometimes. But as part of like the stress that the team was experiencing, we had built in like time for people to go walking during the day to kind of like just connect and de stress. And I live in New England. So when cold times came, that wasn’t always an option, or the rain came. So this person on my team, he was like, let’s just do meditation during that time. And I was kind of like, um, that’s not for me, but I’m gonna support you. So let’s do it. And so a group of us got in this room, and he really walked us through, he was very serious about his meditation practice, and had done it for a long time. And he really walked us through how to do it. And I just saw it from a completely different perspective. And it was super awkward the first time you’re like sitting with your teammates in silence breathing. But it was really clear to me that I had a lot of misperceptions about meditation. And even like, Am I doing it right, and things like that. And so I kind of said, I’m just going to try this. And so I would get up in the morning, and I was like, just for five minutes, I’m just going to sit and breathe and focus on my breathing. And when I tell you, within two weeks, my overwhelm was gone, my stress level was decreased. Nothing else changed in terms of the workload, but I was able to, like focus my brain so much better that when I would like turn on my computer, and I’d be like, Oh, my God, there’s, you know, 50 emails, and everybody wants something from me, I would say to myself focus, next step. And so I could push everything else to the side and just be like, I’m going all in on this one thing check going on. And this one thing, check. And so that was really like the first building block to my morning routine. And then I’ve built onto it from then. But even when life got easier, or things, you know, there’s times where it’s less stressful, or I’m on vacation, I still just do that. And usually it’s five minutes, sometimes I’ll do 10, sometimes I’ll do 15. Lots of times, it’s just sitting and breathing. But I also use I have the Peloton app, and they have a lot of really good guided meditations, as well as you know, anywhere, YouTube anywhere. So sometimes I’ll do those as well with more of a focus on like, energizing or, you know, goals or something like that. But it was a game changer for me that I didn’t see coming at all.
Hannah Mitrea 7:28
Man. I’m like, that’s incredible, like incredible flip that kind of switched on, like, the routine and going from, like, super overwhelmed to I can manage this. And just even with that five minutes, and I’ll be honest, I don’t do any meditation yet. I need to I hear so many good things about it. But I struggle with it. And probably in that same place where you’re like, No, this isn’t for me. I do think I think it’s something that definitely will benefit me. I just don’t know how to make that work. Because just like when you are really overwhelmed, I’m always thinking in my head even like, Okay, I have these things to do. And so anytime I get quiet, it’s never really quiet. Oh, it’s always planning all the next things. So like, how were you able to make that break? In meditation? What is meditation, I guess look like for you? Is it just sitting in silence where like, you know, and I think that’s what scares a lot of people. They’re just sitting in silence and actually, like, I yield my daughter all the time, because like, she always has to have like the TV on the radio, while reading a book and like, just turn it off. It’s okay to sit in silence and I’m okay with silence. But my brain is never silent. I think that’s why I’m so okay with it. Makes sense? I like to talk in circles. So I’m sorry. Yeah, no, you’re good. Good.
Karen Vincent 8:41
Yeah. So for me, it was like I thought going into this, like when I first started, like, you’re supposed to meditate and feel calm and feel relaxed. And like not a care in the world, like some version of that, right? And that’s not the case at all. So you can do like, and I teach a lot of my clients is there lots of deep breathing techniques that are their goal is to slow down the nervous system and relax. But meditation isn’t that so with the breathing, it’s just normal breathing, and then focusing on the breathing. So, you know, sometimes I’ll focus on like my chest rising and falling. Sometimes it’s like how the air feels like coming in and out. Inevitably what happens is like, I’m starting, like, I’ll be focusing on my breathing. And the next thing I know, I’m like, What am I going to get my sister for Christmas, like, random, like God’s pinging it and we call it the monkey mind, right? Like, stuffs just going all over the place. And so when that would happen, I’d be like, I can’t do this. This isn’t for me. But the reality is that the whole point is that that is going to happen. And sometimes that happens more than others. And I don’t really know why. But it happens and you see it happening. You just kind of recognize it. And then you come back to the breath or whatever the focus is. So if somebody’s talking through meditation, you come back to the talking, which is an AI. As an aside, I do think a guided meditation to start is easier than just the breathing because you can like tune into somebody’s voice. But then so then you bring it back, and then the next thing happens, and then you bring it back. And every time you bring it back, it’s like doing a rep, you know, like a with a weight on that focus muscle. So when I describe what was happening for me at work, when I first started, it was like, I strengthened that focus muscle so I could see as it was happening, like, Oh, I’m thinking about what I have to do tomorrow. Bring it back. What’s the next thing? So when I realized that I was like, Oh, I’m not doing it wrong, there’s benefit, even if it doesn’t feel relaxing, and my mind is going all over the place, I’m still getting the benefit, because I’m just pulling it back to the breath or whatever the object of focus. Is
Hannah Mitrea 10:53
that like a mind shift change for me right there. And just the idea of looking at it as a focus workout. Meditation. Yeah, yeah. Because, you know, I think we all know what working out is like, we know what a rep is like. Yeah. So something like that is more familiar. So it’s just easier to comprehend on how it works. And so looking at meditation, that same way, just a workout for the focus, and like, coming back, I think is so like mind shift. And I know that just like I like, wow, well, thank you. Yeah. That’s crazy. Because, like getting even like this year, my intention for this year is to become more focused. And I truly feel like I became less focused as as yours when I was there, it feels like there’s so much and so it’s really neat to look at it this way. And I’m excited to try meditation now. Because I’m looking at it a different perspective versus just sitting in silence is exercising focus. Yep. Awesome. Well, thank you.
Karen Vincent 11:52
Yeah. And that’s kind of the same insight that I had, what you just kind of talked through was kind of what happened for me too. And I was like, Oh, I’m not doing it wrong. Like it. This happens to everybody. So yeah.
Hannah Mitrea 12:03
And I think it’s a big thing. A lot of these things do happen to everybody, but not a lot of people talk about all of those things we just hear led through meditation that’s by you do, you know, a routine this way? And so I really liked being able to talk about, you know, maybe some of the wait times it didn’t always work, and how do we get back into that work? Because that’s really important, too. When you fall out of routine, how do you get back to the routine and things like that? But let’s talk about your routine. So what is your routine look like? On a day to day basis? What are those things and you know, it can be a morning routine, day to day routine and talk to somebody about a movement routine? So what is that routine that really impacts your day and your success?
Karen Vincent 12:40
Yeah, so for me, it’s my morning routine, I would like to get a more dialed in evening routine. But the morning I feel like sets me up for success. And so the meditation was the first thing I added. And I always think with, you know, with any kind of habit like starting small and building is always the way to get it. So it sticks. So I was doing that five minute meditation. And then I heard something about, and this is like years and years ago, but something about like hitting the snooze button. And you always hear like, Oh, don’t hit the snooze button. But I heard what happens in your brain when you do it. And it’s like, you start to go back into a sleep cycle, and you pull yourself out and back in and out. And so one, I think, one I know you’re like, you end up groggy er than you would if you just got up at the first, you know, the first alarm. But the second thing for me was like, I’m like not following through every morning, I hit the snooze button, because I’m saying like, Oh, you’re gonna get up at this time. But then I get up 1015 20 minutes later. So then that was the second thing I stopped hitting, I just decide like, what time do I need to get up in the morning, the alarm goes off, I get off. And even if I feel tired, I know I don’t feel as tired as I would if I was trying to get back into another sleep cycle and pulling myself out with a snooze button. So I did that. And then and so usually that’s at 515 I’m definitely more of a morning person than an evening person. And then so I’m usually and I come here to where I am now in my office at my desk. And I’ll chug a big water bottle of water first thing in the morning just to like hydrate. We dehydrate when we’re sleeping. So I just feel like I always feel a little bit better when I do that. And then I journal and I always start with one thing I’m grateful for from the last 24 hours. So I’ll think back on my day. And this is a lot of the work I do and my coaching and therapy too is that, you know, our brains are wired to focus on the negative things. So our brains are really happy to like overthink all of the stressful things that could happen today, tomorrow next week, or to replay things that happened the day before the week before like we’ll hang on to that and then we’ll miss like all the good things. So I always like note one thing that I feel grateful for from the last day and then I journal and my journaling is different. Sometimes it’s kind of like the same for a period of time, and then it changes. So sometimes it’s just like what’s going through my head about the day. And I always do pen and paper. And there, there has been research that there’s something different that happens, pen and paper than like typing into a note or something like that. But I like right now, since I am focusing on like building my coaching business, there’s some things I need to learn, there’s some new things I need to do. And so one of the things that I’m really saying is like, how am I going to show up for myself today, even if it feels hard, or even if it feels challenging, or even if it feels like it’s not happening fast enough. And so it allows me to, like dump on paper. And then if I have some, like kinda not so supportive thinking, I can like challenge it and change it before I let it take over my day. So I’ll kind of do the gratitude, then I’ll go into that. Never more than 10 minutes. Sometimes it’s five, like I just kind of stopped when I’m ready to stop. And then I do visualization. And so I used to create vision boards, like every January and go to like CVS and get all kinds of magazines. And honestly, it was costing me like $70 to buy all these stupid magazines. And it feels like a two week art project. So while I loved that the last few years, I’ve just done them in Canva and created vision boards that I have one for my business, and I one that’s more health related. And then like I have this idea of this dream house that I want. So I have one that’s like the vision of that, and then travel. And I just have like four pages together. And I’ll put on music, I always put on the same song. I don’t know why it’s Tina Turner simply the best. I don’t know why. But that’s the song I use. And then I’ll put that on, I’ll turn it up pretty loud. And then I’ll just go through my vision board and I have some words on it too, that I’ll like say out loud, if nobody’s home, if somebody’s home, then I just say it, you know, kind of to myself. And so I do that that’s like five minutes, sometimes a little bit more. And then I look at my day. And usually on Sundays, I’ll kind of do like a preview of the week. But then I’ll look at each day like what do I have to get done today? What do I want to get done today. And I really try to make sure that I don’t over schedule, because that always feels horrible for me. So I do that. And then I meditate. And so that meditations, the last thing I do before I kind of go into my day so that first like 2530 ish minutes is really like protected time for me to get my head straight, to get excited about my future through my vision board. And then to get settled in my mind.
Hannah Mitrea 17:43
So you meditate after you do kind of that whole morning routine?
Karen Vincent 17:47
Yep. Yeah. And that’s that’s worked for me. I know, there’s a lot of people who say like meditate, and then journal and see what comes up for you. But that’s the way I’ve been. That’s the way and I don’t think there’s no right or wrong way. So I always think like, play around with it and see what works. But for me, it’s kind of like that final centering for going into my day. Okay.
Hannah Mitrea 18:11
And it’s like interesting, because usually people like start their day with meditation. So as far as which second, but it would also make sense because you’re journaling. So you’re kind of getting some of those murky thoughts out, like in the journaling so that you can really focus and keep coming back. I was writing down questions, but I was looking down. So it’s like, hey. So where do you meditate is it usually like in a certain place you have like that, like kind of zone created? Or is it kind of different every day.
Karen Vincent 18:40
So oddly enough, I have like this really nice meditation cushion and like pillow that’s up in my bedroom and like this really peaceful place. And this is where I meditate right here. Usually, sometimes if I do like extra on the weekends, I’ll do it on my cushion. But I literally just sit in this chair, put my feet flat on the floor, and just meditate here. And for me that again, that works like I close my eyes. So it’s not like I’m distracted by you know what’s going on. And it just it helps it flow into the rest of that morning routine rather than having to get up and relocate somewhere. So that just kind of speaks to you can really do meditation anywhere. It’s more about just like turning inward when you’re doing it regardless of what the external is.
Hannah Mitrea 19:27
Awesome. And then as you’re talking about this news button, I was thinking about how many times I snooze my alarm this morning. I still got up and did my workout. But like, that’s something I’ve done since I was a teenager. I would calculate time in my head. What time do I truly need before I actually wake up? And so it’s like, you know, can I snooze for five more minutes? Yes. Can I snooze for 10 more minutes? Yes. Yeah. And then like I’m always like, rushing to get to the meetings and stuff like that, however, so with that, though, like because you know, maybe you don’t work out every morning or maybe you don’t do certain things. Every morning, do you change your alarm per each day? Or do you have a set time you wake up every single day,
Karen Vincent 20:06
I have a set time every single day. The only exception is if one like I’m traveling and I need to be somewhere, or, and i This doesn’t happen all that often I have plans on the weekends that keep me up past 1030, then I’ll adjust because it’s also very important to me that I get like seven to eight hours of sleep a night. So I really want to try to get that. But other than that, I keep it to 515.
Hannah Mitrea 20:33
Yeah, just because like on Monday, I was up at 6am. Today I was up at seven, yesterday I was up at nine definitely fluctuates. So it’s kind of you know, do you think that’s a super crucial thing of getting everyday to the routine? Does that help a
Karen Vincent 20:50
lot? For me, it definitely helps because like, my body’s just trained, like, you know, versus if I sleep in one day, and then the next day, try to get up earlier, my body wants to fight me on that, or I go to bed too late. But I still try to get up at the same time. Like that doesn’t work. So I try to, like I said stick as consistent as possible. But I do give myself the flexibility. And that’s usually on the weekends, if I’m staying up later, to sleep in a little bit. And usually on Saturdays and Sundays, I can have a slower morning. And it’s not a big deal. Like I’m not missing out on something or creating stress, because now I have to get more done in less time.
Hannah Mitrea 21:31
Awesome. And then I know where you’re talking about journaling, and you kind of shared some things that you do during journaling. However, I know a lot of people struggle with what do I write, you know, and so when you first got started with writing, and like journaling, and this whole process, did you have, like Donald Trump tell us specifically are like, what was that process? Like for you?
Karen Vincent 21:52
Yeah, so I, when I started, I focused more on like, how am I thinking and feeling right now? And just kind of in sometimes you’re like, I don’t know. But what happens sometimes is if you start with the feeling, the thinking comes second, because how we’re feeling is always created by what we’re thinking. So lots of times we think, let’s say a project went wrong at work yesterday. And so I’m like, Oh, I’m feeling bad, because the project went wrong at work yesterday. But it’s what I’m thinking about that that’s actually creating the feeling. So that was big for me to really just start to discover, like, what are the thoughts that are kind of just running on autopilot in my brain? And are they helping, and if they’re not helping, they’re optional, I can change them I you know, when it’s not, it’s not that toxic positivity, where you pretend things are different than they’re not, it’s just like, I could say, the project went wrong at work yesterday, and now, like, I’m gonna get in trouble and things are going to be horrible. And people aren’t going to think I’m qualified. Or I could be like, I have an opportunity to learn something, clearly, I missed something, and doesn’t change the fact that the thing went wrong, but how do you feel about it? If you know, one feels better than the other? So I did a lot of that. And then definitely, if there’s a specific goal that I’m working on, I’ll ask a question related to that, like, so how do I need to show up today to move forward on this goal? What am I proud of yesterday that I did moving towards this goal? So the goal for me is always to whatever comes up for me, it’s to address the unhelpful thinking and generate more of the helpful thinking patterns and doing coaching, like, I’ve always asking kind of prompting questions like to clients, and I asked them to myself to that kind of so. So it varies, and I don’t think there’s any wrong question. The only, in my opinion, the only way journaling might not be helpful, is if you say, like, what are all the ways let’s just make this up. But what are all the ways I feel bad about myself? And then you, you just sit with that, in some ways, you’re like reinforcing that. But if you got them out on paper, and then you started to explore them, I think that can be helpful. And if you did that, and then you ended with like, What’s one way I feel good about myself, then you start to train your brain, like, there’s some good things in here. And let’s kind of put a little more attention to those. So that was kind of a long answer to say, like, I don’t think there’s any wrong but for me, it’s always about either, like, exploring what kind of thoughts I’m having so that I can challenge and change if needed, or how do I dial up thinking that supports my goals?
Hannah Mitrea 24:38
And I think that really gives me an open listener really a good way to kind of look at journaling to, to be able to think of like what are these thoughts I’m having writing them down and kind of dissecting them in a way so that it becomes like the journal prompts right there to do that. And I think you know, those things that you’re constantly thinking or in my case like ruminating on, you’re able to get out and just like, look at and move on from versus hold on to that. Yeah. So with your team, so I know like you came from no routine to starting the meditation to all of this, how long did it take to really maintain this routine? And it stick? And like, you know, or was it a struggle at the beginning and what helped you through it?
Karen Vincent 25:22
The meditations been pretty consistent just because I see the positive effects. Like it was so apparent to me that that like, it became a no brainer. And it’s fun. It’s like five minutes. So I think the journaling, there have been times where I’m like, I don’t have time to journal today, or like, I get caught up in something else. So for me, definitely, like stay off my phone, don’t like I’m sitting at my computer, but I’m not when I’m doing this, I’m not looking at my computer, I’m not opening up windows or anything. So keeping the distractions out and doing it first thing in the morning, I think is really supported it happening. But occasionally journaling will kind of go by the wayside. And I have to pull it in and and I’ll reflect on like, why am I doing this? Why is this important? And I always come back to the same thing, like I manage my mind when I journal, and that’s really important to me, the snooze, once I made a decision to stop hitting the snooze, it was hard. But again, I felt so much better that that kind of pulled me through. And I think the other thing is that I didn’t do it all at once. So I it was like I started with a meditation that was just I don’t know how long but it was just that for a while, like months. And then it was let me get up at the same time stop hitting snooze. And then it was like, oh, no, we have more time in the morning. And, you know, I was learning more about journaling and visualization. And so just kind of adding those things in. And like if I’m traveling on vacation, like I don’t always bring like my vision board with me. So like, I won’t do that part. But I almost always bring my journal meditation you can do anywhere. And my schedule, you know, unless it’s work related is usually less necessary to spend time on that.
Hannah Mitrea 27:06
Yeah, well, one thing you mentioned that, like, you know, waking up early, just figure out you have more time, and there’s like so many more things to do. And I’ve seen that too, when I woken up at like, 5am has happened not often, but it’s happened to me about five, and I do it. And then like you know, they say not to go to your phone or to go to your computer, like kind of, you know, make that time for yourself usually first thing in the morning. But then I feel like I am like just lost some days, if I wake up better, like because I have all this extra time. Did you ever have that feeling at the beginning, or like what I do with all this time? Like, you know,
Karen Vincent 27:44
things I don’t remember, but some of it is I am not a good night person. Like I want my brain to like shut down. So I did use to I feel like I have a lot on my plate right now. But I did use to do like up to 30 minutes of reading in the morning to so maybe there was you know, kind of looking back, maybe there was this piece of like, oh, I have extra time like I can read in the morning and not just in the evening. Typically, I’ll read in the evening. So maybe there was that piece. And I was just kind of like, oh, I have like I want to do more reading. But my brain is best in the morning. So I just kind of get into things after I do that routine. And then maybe it took some of the pressure off my evenings to
Hannah Mitrea 28:26
get smart. Because I for some reason in my head, I’ve always felt like, like even though I know I have 1000 things to do at work. I shouldn’t be doing those things. Because they say that take that time and make it yours. Yeah, but you still jumped into work after you did that, like, you know, 30 minute routine. So even if it was 5:30am You’re jumping in and kind of getting the work done, because that was a good time. And I think for me, I’ve always had that like, I don’t know, mindset block somewhere telling me hey, you shouldn’t work yet. This time. But there could be a really good time for me to because I’m not and I down. I save an afternoon pigeon. Because no more great either. But I always do feel more energized in the morning. And so okay, I’m gonna try that next time I get up, do my things I’m going to do and then just jump into work regardless of what time it is. versus waiting for, you know, some perfect moment when all of a sudden, that time is now no longer my time. I don’t know. It’s kind
Karen Vincent 29:26
of interesting. Yeah, I think it’s always it’s good to play around with it and figure out like there’s not a right way or wrong way. But you’ll I’ve learned some of it is like the self discovery but I’ve learned about myself like I’m more creative. I’m more energized especially after doing that morning routine. I’m like, let’s go. And so, usually like working out I’ll kick to a little bit later in the day so that I have that time again like I’m already sitting here like I can just kind of dig in. But I definitely see people where they’re like no at night that’s when I can like crank stuff I felt so I think it’s just figuring out what works, but definitely worth playing around with. Definitely. Oh, let’s
Hannah Mitrea 30:05
talk about your success, though. And so how has your routine impacted your success?
Karen Vincent 30:13
I think the biggest thing is mindset. So that it, I feel usually No, I don’t think anybody could say always in control of what I’m thinking, which influences how I feel, which influences what I do, which influences the results I get in my life. So I really feel like that process, like I wake up, when my alarm goes off, I’m keeping a commitment to myself, right, from, you know, eyes opening. And then I, you know, I’m kind of checking my mind, my visualization is very inspiring to me. So I’m, like, excited about what the future has to bring. And also aware that I have to create that, like, it’s not just gonna come to me, it’s not like, I’ll think about it, and it’ll come like, I’ll think about it. And I’ll get excited to do the work to have it happen. So I think yeah, I think it’s, it’s helped me keep going, when things get hard. I think it’s helped me like, say, Okay, there’s lots of new things. Like when you’re running an online business, there’s lots of new things you have to learn. When you’re, you know, running the show by yourself, you have to wear a lot of different hats and figure things out. And I just think it helps me keep going, instead of being like, oh, it’s not for me, because I don’t know how to do those things. So yeah, I think it helps with motivation, I think it helps with just in also reminding myself, like, every day isn’t fun, every day isn’t easy every day isn’t, you know, there’s frustration and that it’s okay to have that and just move through it. And and so, I would say that’s been the biggest thing. And I kind of already talked about the meditation and just kind of how that allows me to kind of clear things out and reset.
Hannah Mitrea 31:50
Awesome. How would you define success?
Karen Vincent 31:53
For me, it’s, I think it’s different for different parts of my life. So I would say overall, it’s being happy, like, whatever that looks like for somebody. I think for me, it’s feeling good about myself feeling good about what I’m doing. My career is important to me. So being successful in my career is something that I definitely measure success against, which isn’t the ultimate I don’t think is the ultimate way to measure success. But that’s something that’s important to me. And I think also just kind of the quality of relationships that you have, you know, so, but probably happiness is the overarching.
Hannah Mitrea 32:32
No, and I think it’s really important we hear success, you know, from little kids, like, you know, that certain things are measured as success. But success is so unique to each person. I think ultimately, from everyone I’ve talked to, it always comes back to happiness. And I think that really is what success is all about is that happiness, and how you create that for yourself and how that routine plays that role in there. To make sure, like you’re doing the things you need to create that success, though, yeah, but I want to make sure we respect your time. So I have two more questions for you. Okay. All right. The one is, for somebody listening to this that doesn’t have a routine that’s really looking to, you know, maybe get a more positive mindset to create that happiness for themselves. What is that one thing they should start doing tomorrow? To really create that routine to success?
Karen Vincent 33:23
Ooh, good question. I would say, again, like I focus a lot with my clients, both therapy and coaching on your thought patterns. So I think understanding and challenging and changing thought patterns, which may create the opposite of happiness, whatever that looks like, would be helpful. And the reality is, all of us are wired with negativity bias. So we’re wired to see the negative, and to skim over positive things that aren’t like huge positive things. And so what I would say, is maybe start with one to three minutes and just say, like, What’s one thing I’m grateful for today? More, what’s one thing I’m proud of myself for doing yesterday, like something that forces the logical side of your brain to focus on positive things against not toxic positivity, it’s real things that are happening in your life, because otherwise, it’s going to opt into the negative things. And I would, whatever it is, you might start with a little journaling, just a sentence of gratitude, one minute of mindfulness, but I would start so small that you can’t talk yourself out of it, because that emotional side of our brain does not like new, and it does not like things that feel weird or unfamiliar. And so to say like, Oh, I’m gonna start and do like 15 minutes of meditation, like your brain is gonna say, that is a terrible idea. hit the snooze button. But if you say like, I’m just gonna sit and try breathing for one minute, you’re much more likely to do it and then you get the momentum. And then you can kind of build from there. So that’s kind of a long answer, but start small. Pick one thing, lock it in, and then go from there. Yeah,
Hannah Mitrea 35:10
definitely. And the second question, what book would you recommend?
Karen Vincent 35:15
Ooh, good question. Right now, I’m actually rereading the big leap, which is a really great book and focuses a lot on mindset. That’s one that I think is good. Well, you just said one. So I’m just gonna give you one, I could give you a laundry list. I don’t know if you can see I have like all kinds of books over here. But I’ll start with that the big league, it’s great. People that like other coaches and people, like say, it’s a good like, read it once a year. It’s a good book to keep going back to.
Hannah Mitrea 35:46
And that’s a big leap by Gay Hendricks. Right. Correct. Yep. The cycle. Look at it. Oh, thank Kindle Unlimited. Yeah. So thank you so much, Karen, for sharing, like your routine, your success your story with us. And for anyone that’s listening that, you know, is like, hey, I need to talk to a coach or getting into coaching, who is ideal person that should come and reach out to you? And then how will they reach out to you?
Karen Vincent 36:10
I work with some men, but typically, it’s women who you that’s who I’m like marketing to. And regardless of why people initially want to work with me, we always hit mindset. That’s why I feel so strongly about this stuff. So whether it’s you’re stuck feeling stuck trying to achieve a goal, you keep saying you want to do something, but you don’t actually do it. Or you’re dealing with overwhelm stress, anxiety, I work with a lot of people with various levels of anxiety. And it all goes back to kind of the mindset and challenging the thinking and really putting some routines in place habits in place that support changing thinking patterns. And science has shown that we can rewire our brains so that even if there’s been a certain way of operating for many, many years, and not too long of a time, you can start to really change that. So anybody who’s curious about that, my website is Karen Vincent solutions.com. And I have information there on coaching one on one with me. And I do 20 minute consults at no cost if someone’s just like interested or curious about what coaching might look like for them. And then hopefully in the next couple months, I’ll have a course out specific to anxiety and one two mindset. Awesome. Well, we’ll
Hannah Mitrea 37:29
make sure to put all those in the show notes as well as on our website. So anyone that is listening and wants to reach out to Karen, make sure to check the show notes. And, you know, go over to her website, Karen Vincent solutions.com. And thank you so much for being here today, Karen.
Karen Vincent 37:43
Thanks, Hannah. I appreciate it.
Hannah Mitrea 37:44
Thank you for listening to Success is Routine Podcast. If you found value in this episode, share it with a friend episodes go live weekly on Sunday at 8am. During your week with the right routine, like follow and review the podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon music, or wherever you’re listening during the success of repeat movement and get exclusive downloads and content from the guests go to www.successisroutine.com and follow the conversation there or on social media. Until next time, remember,
Karen Vincent 38:14
our brains are really happy to like overthink all of the stressful things that could happen today, tomorrow, next week, or to replay things that happened the day before the week before. Like we’ll hang on to that. And then we’ll miss like all the good things. So I always like to note one thing that I feel grateful for from the last day understanding and challenging and changing thought patterns, which may create the opposite of happiness, whatever that looks like, would be helpful. And the reality is all of us are wired with negativity bias. So we’re wired to see the negative and to skim over positive things that aren’t like huge positive things. And so what I would say is maybe start with one to three minutes and just say like, What’s one thing I’m grateful for today? More What’s one thing I’m proud of myself for doing yesterday, start small, pick one thing, lock it in, and then go from there.
